Nature needs your voice

Tell Minister Guilbeault to support the Métis of Sakitawak IPCA

You can help protect Woodland Caribou and support Indigenous-led conservation.

The Sakitawak IPCA conservation project is an initiative to protect the traditional lands of the Métis, Woodland Cree, and Dene of Northwestern Saskatchewan in the heart of the Boreal forest.

The area to be protected, known as the N14 Fur Block, is approximately 22,000 square kilometres and is home to three watersheds and multiple species of animals, trees, and flowers. The area is an important calving ground for the endangered Woodland Caribou, as well as a home to many other species that rely on Canada’s vast Boreal forest.

If protected, it would be the third largest IPCA in Canada.

The caribou are at the heart of the boreal ecosystem and Indigenous traditions and protecting the N14 will help conserve the habitats of multiple other species as well.

Add your voice to tell the government to support Indigenous-led conservation in the Boreal forest.

Read the letter

Take a second to review our message below and feel free to add your own personal touch. All fields are editable.

The Honourable

Julie

Dabrusin

Government of Canada

Dear Minister Guilbeault,

I support Indigenous-led conservation efforts in the boreal forest. Helping Sakitawak IPCA, the Métis-led conservation of the N14 fur block in Northwestern Saskatchewan should be a priority for you and your government.

Please read their message below.

Sincerely,

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FROM: Sakitawak IPCA
TO: The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada

Dear Minister,

Over the past two years, during Covid, the Sakitawak IPCA has successfully carried out all of its responsibilities under our agreement with ECCC regarding preliminary work for consideration as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) in Northwest Saskatchewan.

This area has been conserved for over 240 years by this community of Métis, Dene, and Woodland Cree peoples, and we will continue to do so. We thank you for the initial round of funding that has been instrumental in building our case for increased capacity to ensure the permanent protection of our territory. We are asking for a continued relationship with the Government of Canada that supports Indigenous conservation, community stewardship of our lands and waters, and the advancement of reconciliation. Without continued funding, this work to create an IPCA, and the community efforts behind it, are lost.

Through committed partnerships with Nature Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC) at the University of Regina, we will continue to build public awareness of our conservation work, of our traditional knowledge, and the results of our research. This includes important information on climate change in the North, how it affects species at risk, and the need for policy initiatives at the provincial and federal levels to mitigate the predicted increases in temperature. We see the changes already. We have been trying to communicate the implications of these changes for years. The establishment of the IPCA strengthens our ability to do so and we ask that you continue to support our voice and capacity to build resilient landscapes and communities.

Over the last two years, we have embarked on an inclusive process of community engagement that involved discussions with 25 community Elders, interviews with over 30 stakeholders, nine public presentations, and two feasts. Through this process, the Métis community has clearly defined a long-term conservation vision for the area, building on the fact that the community has stewarded this land for hundreds of years, since before the N14 Fur Block was even established when it was a series of trap lines for food security. Today the N14 Fur Block is a continued source of livelihood and food security for over 3,000 people in and around Sakitawak, with over 110 trap lines still used, passed on from generation to generation.

If protected, the Sakitawak IPCA will be the third-largest IPCA in Canada. This is a source of pride for this community, which has always pursued effective conservation measures through volunteer stewardship. We ask for your support to continue to protect this pristine part of the boreal and to provide the capacity to do so.

We will continue, with our partners, to work to conserve the N14 Fur Block and to build awareness of the efforts of this rich and knowledgeable community that will be celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2026!

We will continue to engage with Elders, our youth, the fishermen, trappers, our educators, and our community members, as we strive to protect our way of life, our history, our culture - our identity.

Conserving the N-14 Fur block as an IPCA for today, as well as for future generations, will strengthen this Métis community and our relationship to the land and waters. It will ensure that the unique biodiversity of the area will not disappear, but rather thrive for generations to come.

Minister, let me take this opportunity once again to invite you to our community to show you the heart of Sakitawak, the Pine River Valley, and to express our appreciation for your support.

In closing, thank you for helping to protect wildlife, old-growth forests, and the Métis way of life.  We ask that this relationship continues for reconciliation and environmental protection.

Marsee,

Peter Durocher
Manager
Sakitawak IPCA

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